Long post alert.
Diagnosed august, knew from first biopsy that had breast tumour and lymph node involvement.
Had staging scans, liver ultrasound was clear but showed up an area in my abdomen they were unsure about so I had a ct scan- Showed I had a horseshoe shaped kidney but also showed a spot on liver. So I had a liver MRI but spot was less than 1cm so they couldn’t say for sure what it was. They would repeat the MRI half way through chemo with the hope there was no shrinkage and that it would stay the same.
So I had my liver MRI last week and my ultrasound and mammogram yesterday. Met with my onc today. I am due chemo 4/6 on Friday.
Great results on breast tumours, one has disappeared completely and the other has shrunk in all directions. They are really happy with the response.
Sadly though the liver spot has also shrunk- only by 2mm. They think it’s likely to be a secondary met although can’t be 100% sure. It’s too small to biopsy. They are going to assume it’s a met and treat it accordingly to err on the side of caution. I will be scanned regularly.
Instead of stopping herceptin after 52 weeks I will be on it indefinitely. My liver is still fully functioning and I am symptom free.
I am gutted at the liver news and pleased about the breast results. My head is a bit all over the place to be honest. But thinking positively if I didn’t have a weird shaped kidney I wouldn’t know about the liver spot. And if it is a met who knows how much damage it might have done before it was found.
This disease sucks though and I hate that it’s happening to us.
Oncologist happy to continue with my plan, complete chemo and single mastectomy in Feb with full node clearance. They could take out less but should they have to go back in this will delay the rads if I need it plus I have a holiday booked for May 30th. - booked before diagnosis and I am going.
sorry to hear your news but let’s hope you get the mastectomy on time and if you do not need anymore chemo you get your holiday I suspect the chemo was given to shrink before they do mastectomy when I had my mastectomy in 1995 I had no treatments other than 2 years of tomoxifen
I now gave it in my liver and on eribulin which show d it had shrunk a bit after 6 months I am on this now until the tumour finds its through the chemo
i am her 2 negative but as the cancers can change there DNA I could anything now my onc does not believe it doing biopsies he goes on how well I look but being oestrogen + I will eventually stop responding to hormone treatments but I have not done well on them any,way only managing 1 year or couple of months so have had most of them
Thank you for your comment Kay. I am glad your met has shrunk and I hope the eribulin continues to work for you for as long as possible.
Are liver mets more resistant to the chemo than the tumours elsewhere. My onc was confused as to the rapid reduction in my breast but the slower reduction in the liver.
I did not know the tumours/ cells could change what type they are. That is interesting.
My once said they wouldn’t biopsy my liver, I am not sure if she just meant just now as I am still on chemo.
I deliberately did not ask her where about on my liver it is as I would start experiencing pains there I know I would.
Every appointment for me seems to be bitter sweet I get good news about one thing and something else to think about that perplexes me.
I had a 9 week delay from diagnosis to starting chemo as I had so many set backs, am on the second choice of chemo regime for me as my heart function was lower than expected.
I have a great relationship with my onc though.
I had a tough couple of days and didn’t sleep well the last two nights but I have felt more relaxed today and I am very much trying to focus on the moment.